This Time Imperfect
by Everafter1313
Summary: This is just a short little thing for my friend. You can read, and please give some advice.


Hogwarts was everything Harry had hoped it would be and more. It was a wondrous place that no amount of study could ever hope to uncover all of its secrets. The Great Hall even boggled the mind from its enchanted ceiling to its four long house tables. Harry now sat at the Gryffindor table, watching the rest of him fellow first years get sorted into their houses. He caught Ron's eye and gave him a thumbs up and a smile, which Ron did not return. He was pale and shaky looking as if he wanted nothing more then to be swallowed up by the floor. Finally his name was called and the Hat sorted him into Gryffindor. Harry cheered as loudly as his brothers as Ron came to sit by them. A short moment later the last person was sorted into Ravenclaw, but McGonagall did not take the Sorting Hat down off its three-legged stool. Older students seemed to find this odd because curious whispers broke out among them. All talking ceased though, when Dumbledore stood up.

"I see you noticed that the Sorting Hat has not been taken down." There was a murmur of agreement. "That is because we have a new student joining us that has come from a long way away." Everyone started muttering to each other again. In the back the double doors that Harry had walked through moments before opened with a load bang. Hagrid came thumping in, but stepped away from the door to let a girl walk inside.

She was tiny, and pixie like. Her hair was dark black and just past her chin in the front. The back didn't even go past her nape. Her eyes may have even been darker then her hair. But what Harry noticed first about her was the full-length leg brace. She clung to two crutches to support her body weight, though it looked like it wasn't very much weight.

She made her way up to Dumbledore surprisingly quick for one on crutches. She had an enchanting aura about her as she passed Harry on her way up. Her lips were pulled up in an embarrassed kind of way. The boy next to Harry sighed.

"Sorry I'm late, Professor." She ducked her head shamefully when she reached him. Her accent was so different from anyone else in Hogwarts. She must have been _very _foreign. "I've held you up."

"Not at all, my dear." He gave her a warm smile and patted her shoulder in a fatherly way. She tried to return his smile. "As I was saying before, this is Liani Black. She has come all the way to Hogwarts from America." At this point there was an eruption of talking and muttering throughout the Great Hall. Liani managed to cover her face with her hands and hold on to her crutches with her elbows and her underarms. She had obviously had to live with those crutches for a long while.

"Please, don't let her background interfere with your view of her. And on that subject, she has had a terrible accident." The talking ceased instantly. "It was a horrible accident with an experimental charm sustained at her old school. Her family has had to move to England to a void any unnecessary persecution. Hogwarts has graciously opened our arms to her so she may further her education. Please treat her with respect and older students, please help her around the school as best as you can. And as a warning, if you do manage to anger her, she probably knows as much magic as you fourth or fifth years. Now! On to the Sorting!" Dumbledore cheerfully helped her to the three-legged stool and placed the Hat on her head himself. It fell right down around her shoulders.

After a brief moment of silence the rip at the bottom of the Hat opened and shouted: "GRYFFINDOR!" The Gryffindors erupted with cheers and applause. Fred and George Weasley rushed forward and helped her to the table. She got into the bench with a little difficulty, but in she did get, right next to Harry. She smiled at him shyly, but didn't make any sign that she knew who he was. He could tell from that one simple expression that they would become great friends. Dumbledore yelled a hearty "Tuck in!" and the tables were suddenly full of food. The new first years let out cries of amazement while the rest of the school grabbed the food closest to them and did as Dumbledore had instructed.

Talk was mumbled and short as they ate whole-heartedly. Liani managed once again to do the amazing: she held two conversations and ate all at the same time. Her eyes were enchanting; the black would glitter in the candlelight but somehow remain lifeless to the smile that stretched across her face, or the look of concern that pulled her eyebrows together. It was unnerving.

The girl on Ron's right, called Holly Riddle, was rapidly getting on his bad side, or his good side. If she agreed with him about some sports conversation they were having, she was on his good side. But if she got to the food that he wanted first, she was on his bad side. They were the funniest pair to watch. Liani turned to Harry, asking for the dessert that was in front of him. She smiled a closed lipped smile and offered her hand.

"I'm Liani." She said.

"Harry, Harry Potter." He answered, shaking her hand. She had a surprisingly strong grip.

"I once knew a Potter." She mused. Harry's heart skipped a beat. "She could grow the biggest tomatoes you had ever seen. And her pumpkins made the best Jack-o-Lanterns." She laughed and dug into the tart that Harry had passed her. Ron raised his eyebrows at him. She really had no idea who he was


End file.
